Thing for You
by Im Always Sorry in the Morning
Summary: What if Kate had not have gotten off the couch that night in their hotel room in Los Angeles? What if they had given into their feelings for one another? What would happen the morning after and how would it affect their relationship? ONE-SHOT with a twist on 3x22 To Love and Die in L.A.


**Thing for You**

_Summary:_ What if Kate had not have gotten off the couch that night in their hotel room in Los Angeles? What if they had given into their feelings for one another? What would happen the morning after and how would it affect their relationship? ONE-SHOT with a twist on 3x22 To Love and Die in L.A.

_Author's Note:_ This is not my first fanfic; however, it is my first Castle fanfic! For those of you who don't know my writing, I get super inspired my songs and a lot of the times end up writing my stories based on songs that I hear. This one-shot is inspired by the song "Thing for You" by Hinder. The italicized parts are flashbacks ~ Enjoy

_Disclaimer:_ I obviously do not own anybody or anything (including some of the dialogue from the episode!)

He was slowly being awakened by his senses. The smell of cherries blended with his cologne, the feeling of smooth, silky, feminine skin entangled with his, the unrelenting taste of her on his lips. Sure he had had plenty of dreams of waking up with Kate Beckett in his arms, but this…it all seemed so realistic. It was almost as if he could feel her even breaths on his chest, feel her slender arm wrapped around his torso with her hand resting on his upper arm, his arms holding her close. He knew it was the fact that they were sharing a hotel room and that she was in the room across from his that made this seem so real. She was so close, yet so far away. He didn't want to open his eyes, he wasn't ready to let this feeling go, and just maybe if he kept his eyes shut for a few more minutes he could hold on to that dream he had last night of the two of them just a little bit longer.

As Castle lay reminiscing about his dream he is brought back to full consciousness by a tiny sound next to him and the feeling of someone's hand sliding down his bicep, which comes to rest on his chest. He lifts his head to find a halo of reconizable caramel curls to his right and a curled up sleeping Kate Beckett with her head on his chest. 'It wasn't a dream, last night really happened.' Castle thought to himself as a smile spread across his face. He lifted his hand from the curve in her waist and brushed a strand of hair away from her face, giving her a gentle kiss on the top of her head before returning his head to his pillow.

They had done it; they had crossed that line of being just friends and partners into the dangerous, unknown territory of intimacy and lovers. Or had they? What would she think of this? To him this was anything but a one night fling, he had had feelings for her for quite some time now and was quickly beginning to realize that he was falling in love with her. She was beyond any woman he had ever met, she amazed him, and he had told her that last night.

"_You know what I thought when I first met you?" he asked her leaning back against the couch._

"_Hmm?"_

"_That you were a mystery I was never gonna solve. Even now, after spending all this time with you I'm…I'm still amazed at the depth of your strength, your heart…and your hotness."_

"_You're not so bad yourself Castle."She replied smiling and tilting her head to one side._

_There it was that smile that he loved so much, that smile that made his heart skip a beat. He hadn't seen it since she had pulled up in her squad car in that alley a few nights ago._

"Hey" her raspy voice brought Castle out of his thoughts. When he looked down he was staring into those hazely-green eyes that he loved, and there it was again, the smile.

"Hey" he reflected her smile. He could barely speak; her morning beauty nearly took his breath away.

"What time is it?" she yawns slightly, scooting closer to him while wrapping her arm around his torso.

"Uhh…it's about 9:00." he replies after looking at the clock next to the bed. He can't wrap his mind around the fact that Kate Beckett is in bed with him, in his arms, naked, and she just got closer, and she seems completely okay with this fact.

"Mmk…Hey Castle?" she nuzzles his chest with her cheek.

"Yeah?" he asks as he cups the back of her head.

"Don't make me get up just yet okay? I'm not ready for this to end."

"Never." He replies, kissing the top of her head.

A small smile spreads across Kate's face because she's not sure how she should take his response, the opposite of his usual always; he's never going to let her go, or he's never going to let this…them…end, and either way she's okay with that.

Twenty minutes later they hear a phone ringing from the other room. Castle's grip tightens around Kate's waist and she smiles knowing that he's holding true to his promise.

"I should probably get that, it might be the guys with something about the case." She said sitting up in bed and planting a feather-light kiss on the corner of Castle's mouth.

Hopping out of bed she grabbed the collared shirt from the floor that Castle had been wearing the previous night. She made it a point to stop at the door and turn around to Castle.

"Like what you see?" she asked.

He was speechless, she was gorgeous. Her toned, sun-kissed legs seemed to go on for miles. She had just thrown on his button-down shirt, she was wearing _his_ shirt, and she looked amazing in it. There were just enough buttons undone at the top so that he could see the swell of her breasts, and the back was barely long enough to cover her backside. Her hair fell down around her shoulders in perfect curls and once again there was that beautiful smile.

"Mmmmm" was all he managed to get out as she winked at him as she ran out the door to grab her phone.

"Beckett."

"What I don't even get a good morning honey? I miss you."

Her eyes widened in shock, she hadn't even looked at the caller id before answering she had just assumed it would be Espo or Ryan.

"Josh." She barely got out above a whisper.

She hadn't even thought about Josh in the last 18 hours.

"I tried calling you last night, but you never answered?"

"Uh, yeah we…I sort of had a long day yesterday so I decided to go to bed early." She lied.

A sound coming from behind her made her turn around, there was Castle. She knew that he had heard the beginning of the phone conversation. She locked eyes with him.

"Kate you there?" she heard coming over the phone.

"Uhh, yeah," she closed her eyes and lowered her head, "can you hold on for just a minute?"

She looked back up at Castle and mouthed, "I need to take this" she walked over to him placing her hand on his cheek and rubbing her thumb slightly over the side of his face. She lowered her head once again and turned and walked into her bedroom shutting the door behind her.

Castle released a breath he didn't even realize he was holding. How could he be so naïve, Beckett was with doctor motorcycle boy, how could he even compare to that? She had asked him one time, stating that Josh had performed a bypass surgery saving a patient's life, then asking what he had done that morning. Then he thinks back to a few months ago when they were hunting the dirty bomb and they were being contained for possible radiation poisoning, she opened up a little bit, _"I just wish that…I wish that I had someone who would be there for me, and I could be there for him, and we could just dive into it together."_ He thinks of all the times they have been there for each other including what happened not to long after their radiation scare in the freezer. He thought for sure that he was going to die in there, with her in his arms. He thought he was never going to have a chance at love with Kate Beckett, a chance like what happened last night.

Then his thoughts are back on Josh. He wonders if right now she's in her room comparing the two of them, he knows that he certainly is. He has always compared them, Josh has never been there for her when she needs him the most, Castle _always_ is. But now he's comparing them on a completely different level. He's wondering if Josh ever makes her smile the way he knows he can, the way she has been since they were sitting on the couch last night.

_Last night_

"_You're not so bad yourself Castle" she smiled._

_She tilted her head slightly, lowering her eyes and then raising them to look at him through her eyelashes. He's staring right back at her with those deep blue eyes that she notices herself getting lost in more and more these days. She finds it hard to breathe as her eyes trail down to his lips and she bites her lower lip. A few seconds later she finds herself leaning across the couch to him._

"_Kate…" he errs on the side of caution._

"_Ssh…" she puts a finger up to his lips, "just…I need…no" she shakes her head, moving both of her hands to cup his face, "I want this, I've wanted it for a very long time." The meaning and emotion behind her words is evident to him in her eyes, the eyes that he has come to learn a great deal from in the last three and a half years._

"_You're positive, because there's no," he shakes his head as he places his hand over hers, "there's no going back on this." _

"_Always." She knows that he gets the meaning behind their word._

_He leans in closing the gap between them. His fingers tangle their way into her hair bringing her head closer to his until her lips are on his. The electricity that ignites between them contains years of passion, want, desire, and need. _

_Kate cupped his face in her hands resting her head against his to catch her breath. She looked up into his eyes, she could see everything he felt for her. In that moment she knew that this was it, she could feel the bricks of that wall beginning to crumble. Richard Castle was it for her, he had been there for her more in the last three and a half years than anyone had been in her entire life, and she knew that he would continue to do so, always. _

_She withdrew herself from him and stood up, leaving a confused Castle. _

'_Great, you pushed her too far, too fast. She regrets it, maybe it was the wine, maybe we had more than I realized…' Castle's thoughts were reeling all too fast._

"_You coming?"he heard, he looked up to see her hand out-stretched. "I want you to take me to bed Mr. Castle." he looked up to her eyes and saw there was no doubt, that she knew what she wanted._

"_Why Detective Beckett I think I like what you are insinuating." he replied grabbing her hand._

"_Mmm you have no idea lover boy." she whispered in his ear before kissing down his jaw. "Now…" she jumped up wrapping her legs around his waist, smiling against his lips when he automatically wrapped his arms around her, "are you going to carry me to your bed or do I need to haul you in there myself?"_

"_Mmmm…bossy…I like…it." he uttered in between kisses while walking them to his bedroom. _

_He laid her down on the bed and took a second to take in the beauty in front of him._

"_I need you to touch me." she said seductively._

_Castle laid down on top of her, kissing her gently as his hand found its way to the hem of her shirt. His head was spinning at the sensation of her skin beneath him._

_She felt like she was on fire as soon as his hands touched her abdomen. She was feeling things she had never felt before, this was insane, they both still had all their clothes on and they had only been kissing, how could he make her feel like this from a simple touch._

_Using the skills she learned at the academy, she locked her legs behind his, flipping them over, causing her to be on top. She sat up, straddling him and began unbuttoning his shirt. She was in awe of the man in front of her and the love reflecting in his eyes. The love, she knew that was for her. One day ago that look would have sent her running, but now all she wanted to do was dive in. She smiled at the veracity of her thought, "…and we could just dive into it together," that's what they were doing now, diving in together._

_Their hands were instantly on one another, exploring the unknown territories of one another's bodies. Within minutes their clothes were in a forgotten pile on the floor._

"_God Kate, you are absolutely…gorgeous." Castle couldn't tear his eyes off of her as he was running his hand up and down her hour glassed frame. _

"_You're not so bad yourself," she winked at him. Leaning down, licking the edge of his ear, she whispered, "why don't you show me how that wonderful body of yours works."_

_They moved together perfectly, as if they had known each other's body for years, as if they knew what the other wanted before they knew themselves. Each touch igniting a fire stronger than the one before it. The passion and desire for one another growing stronger with each stroke. The level of heat between the united bodies rising rapidly with the feeling of skin on skin. The need to touch every inch of each other growing incessantly. Three and a half years of lust and desire built up to this passionate and loving release. _

"Sorry about that." Kate said into her phone as she closed the door behind her.

"Yeah, how's the case going?" Josh asked.

"Fine..." she didn't feel like getting into it with him. He had no idea what Royce meant to her, hell he didn't even know that she was out here on her own time. When she had told him that it was just another case and that she needed to fly out to L.A. to interview a suspect he had asked why they couldn't talk over the phone or why the L.A.P.D. couldn't interview the suspect for her. He didn't understand why she had to travel for her job. The irony of that situation had led to a big argument before she left for the airport.

"How much longer you going to be out there?"

"Not sure." It was a truthful answer. They weren't any closer to figuring out who had killed Royce. The one lead they had kind of ended up cold on their end, thanks to a particular robbery and homicide detective, and was now depending on Ryan and Esposito.

"Look, if this isn't a good time, I can call you later."

"No, no, now works. I…I need to talk to you."

"If this is about that argument we had before you left, I was a jackass. I know you're just doing your job and…"

"It's not about the argument Josh," she interrupted him, "well it is, but it's about everything else too. I've done a lot of thinking lately about where you and I stand, what our future is, and I've done even more since I have been out here and I just…I can't do this anymore Josh."

"Kate…what's bringing this on? Is this about your shadow?" he asks with a hint of jealousy mixed with anger, not even knowing that Castle was in L.A. with her.

"Josh leave him out of this. This is about you and me…" she says forcefully, "You're _never_ there for me. We've been together for almost a year now and we don't really know each other, don't you see something wrong with that?" All the things flash through her head that he doesn't know about her, both due in part to his lack of trying and her lack of sharing based on not fully trusting him. And the main thing he doesn't know about her is her mom, and that tears that her heart because her mom and her case are two of the most important things in her life.

"I need somebody I can open up to about my deepest, darkest moments and know that I can count on him to be there…" she continued. She had told Castle about her mom's case after only a few weeks of knowing him, she had trusted him that soon with her most treasured secrets, telling him things that she had never told anyone else. She knew then that he was different, even then. "and I can't count on you to be there. And I'm not saying that's your fault, you have this amazing job that requires a lot of your time and I don't want to be a reason to take that time away from you."

"You've really thought this through haven't you. You're sure about this?"

"Yeah…we don't belong together Josh. We had some really good times together, but we can't keep doing this to ourselves."

"You're right." He replied after a second of silence. "Hey, Kate…"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me one thing…you'll follow your heart and stop denying what's right in front of you. Take care."

And with that their conversation and relationship were done. Kate couldn't help but feel like she should be grieving her losses. She walked over to the window and looked down at the pool below. She realized that she had already grieved both losses. She had lost Royce a long time ago, when he hadn't returned her feelings, and then again a few months ago when he betrayed her during their case. It was different now though, he was gone forever, never to be seen again. Josh was a different loss, she didn't really feel a right to grieve because she never really felt like she was his. They never had a real relationship, it was more a friendship with benefits, and the benefits weren't really worth grieving over…especially after last night.

Kate's thoughts drifted to the events of last night and if she wasn't standing there in his shirt, she would have thought that it was all a dream. No one had ever made her feel so loved, so beautiful, so worthy as Castle had last night. He had worshipped her body, making sure that he spent time covering every inch of it. Sure they had had their incredibly hot and fast round, which was always more her style, but she found that with Castle she really enjoyed the sensual, slow, love making rounds more.

She smiled to herself as she thought of a moment only she would remember.

_She awoke in a completely dark room, a strange room, with the feeling of skin below her. Memories flooded her head – Castle's mouth on hers, his hands traveling the length of her torso and down her legs, the feeling of him inside her carrying her over the edge, a smile spread across her face as she realized it was his chest her head was resting on and his body she was on top of._

_She lifted her head taking in his sleeping features, he looked so peaceful, so happy. She lifted her arm to touch his face, gently tracing the creases next to his eyes, the ones that showed themselves especially when he smiled. 'I love you' she thought, in time she would be able to tell him._

_She kissed his chest before replacing her head directly over his heart. Her movements caused him to unconsciously place his arm on the small of her back. It was just like that that she fell asleep again._

After spending the morning chasing down leads, they had finally caught a break. A security guard, Reggie Walsh, had identified one of the possible shooters as a guy named Ganz. It comes to their attention that they can find this guy at a local hotel cabana.

Castle was unsure of why he had let Beckett talk him into going through with this. She hadn't really let him in on her plan, just that she was going to try to get Ganz to sell her some of these mysteriously dissolving bullets. He was told to stay put by the bar and have a drink, and for once that didn't seem like a hard order to follow. That was until he saw her coming out of the water. There she was, the woman he had been holding just hours earlier, clad in a barely there bathing suit that clung in all the right places, her hair already starting to curl, and the sexiest of sexy looks on her face. And now she's out of the pool wrapping a sarong around her tiny waist, walking away with the slightest of sways in her hips. It's all he can do to not drop everything and take her on her lounge chair right now. But she's undercover.

"I appreciate a woman who knows how to make an entrance. Are you staying at the hotel?" Ganz asks.

"No, I'm meeting someone."

"Business or pleasure?"

"Hopefully a bit of both Mr. Ganz," she says eyeing him, "I'm Lola Black, please sit." She motions to the chair next to her.

"What can I do for you Ms. Black?"

"I represent a small but powerful group of Colombian business interests. They understand you're in possession of some … unique merchandise."

"Mmm…I'm afraid you've got me confused with someone else."

"Oh, I don't think so. That business in New York - that ex cop? It was a very effective product demonstration. My offer is serious and my clients are not accustomed to hearing the word no."

"Well, bidding on that particular item closed about twenty minutes ago. Better luck next time." Ganz says as he stands up to leave.

"Wait, uh… two million. I can have it here within an hour." Beckett blurts out when she notices that Castle is now in the cabana that Ganz was previously occupying.

"I'm impressed, actually. The way you lured me in, you had me guessing there for a second."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're a cop. You're the hottest thing to come out of major crimes in quite some time. But you're a little too eager, too green. Nice meeting you, Lola."

Dropping her head to her hands Beckett recomposes herself before getting up to go meet Castle behind the bushes that she saw him walk behind.

"So what happened?" he asks curiously, "Ow!" his reaction to her poking him quite hard in the chest.

"I was trying to keep him from seeing you and so I pushed too hard and he made me … he called me green, Castle!" she poked him again, "What the hell were you doing?"

"I saw his phone in the cabana. I thought it was worth the risk."

"You took his phone?"

"No! No, I took a picture of his recent call list."

"What? Where is it?"

"Don't poke me!"

"Poke you? I want to kiss you!" she threw her arms around his neck and rose up on her toes placing her lips on his. This kiss was hot and full of passion, she used her tongue to trace the outline of his lips, then begged for access which he quickly granted. Her fingers entangled in his hair, his hands grabbing her ass and pulling her tightly against him, letting her feel his desire for her. She pulled back, her eyes dark with passion, she bit her lower lip, and grabbed his phone out of his hand.

"I need to call Ryan, we need to run down these numbers, see if we can trace one to Ganz's buyer."

"You did that just to distract me, just so you could get my phone." He said running his hand through his hair.

"I'm hurt that you think my intentions are that…devious."

"My dear detective I'm all for devious intentions if it includes me getting to take that suit off of you."

Beckett's only reply was a devilish grin and a seductive wink as she dialed Ryan's desk.

_He couldn't get enough of her body, it was perfection. He wanted to memorize every inch, every freckle, every curve. He wanted to know what made her make that unique moan mixed with sighs, what made her make that perfect arch with her back, and he definitely wanted to hear his name coming from her lips again. He was also hoping he would be able to hear that giggle again, that giggle he was presuming Kate Beckett only let loose in the bedroom because he had never heard it before, but God it was the most beautiful sound. _

_She was currently curled up on her side in front of him asleep. Her slender, toned legs were entangled with his muscular ones, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. He leaned over kissing her neck causing her to unconsciously scoot closer to him, he wrapped his arm tighter around her waist, kissing her bare shoulder. He could easily get used to this, falling asleep with her in his arms every night, it was a reality much better than any dream he had ever had._

Thanks to Ganz's accomplice back in New York, they were able to figure out the location of his operation. After safely securing a van full of bullets it looked as though they weren't going to find Ganz, that was until she laid eyes on him walking toward the beach.

"You're mine you son of a bitch." she whispered to herself as she fell instep behind him.

"Where did Beckett go?" Castle asked as he and Seeger, the L.A. detective, secured the bullets. He looked around and his eyes caught her, just as she took off running after Ganz with her gun drawn, "Ah Kate, what are you doing?" he took off running after her.

"Police! Stop!" she yelled in Ganz's direction when she saw that he had seen her, but he catapulted over the side of the pier onto the beach below.

She followed suit taking off after him, except she had one advantage over him, her gun. Shooting once they were far enough away from the public, she hit him, though she wasn't quite sure where, but he was down and that's all she cared about.

"I knew you were a cop." Ganz said as she walked up to him, gun still trained on him.

"My name is Detective Kate Beckett. NYPD. Michael Royce was my friend. You shot him and you left him in an alley like a piece of garbage. Consider this poetic justice."

"He said something about hell raining down on me. I never imagined hell would look like you."

Her finger flexed over the trigger as she smiled slightly, 'it would be too easy to end this guy right here right now just like he did to Royce' she thought to herself.

"Kate…" she hears Castle yelling from behind her.

"Russell Ganz, you are under the arrest for the murder of Michael Royce." she says lowering her gun slightly. She gives him one last look and then turns her back to him allowing Seeger to deal with him.

"You okay?" Castle asks her as she walks up to him.

"Yeah," she replies smiling slightly and grabbing his hand, "I am. Let's go home."

Later that night after getting their things packed at the hotel and a surprise visit by Seeger thanking them for their assistance on this case they found themselves on a plane back to New York and Kate found herself lost in Royce's letter to her once again.

"_And now for the hard part kid…It's clear that you and Castle have something real. And you're fighting it. But trust me. Putting the job ahead of your heart is a mistake. Risking our heart is why we're alive. The last thing you want is to look back on your life and wonder, if only."_

She smiled to herself, taking one last look at Royce's letter before folding it up. She looked to her left to the man sleeping next to her and thought of all they'd been through together in the last couple days, of the threshold they had crossed. She knew that she wouldn't take any of it back for anything, she'd never regret anything that was done here, and she knew by the feeling in her chest that she was looking forward to what was coming next. Royce was right, there was something real between them. If she had learned anything these last couple days it was that she was done fighting, she was ready to let her feelings for Castle flourish. The 'if-only's' stopped right now, she had had enough of them in the last three and a half years, there was so much more to look forward to in life.

She leaned over placing her hand on his arm and kissed him softly on the corner of his mouth.

"I love you Castle." She whispered in his ear, then laid her head on his shoulder taking in his scent. It wasn't long before sleep overtook her tired body, but not before she heard,

"I love you too."

_AN:_ I was never able to fit it in having Kate tell Castle that she ended it with Josh, but it's kind of a given that it happened behind the scenes, it just didn't flow well with the story. I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you all thought!


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